Will Smith could be stripped of his Best Actor award at the 2022 Oscar by the Academy Awards after walking on stage and slapped comedian Chris Rock who was presenting an award on stage, for joking about the hair of Will’s wife.
According to the New York Post, The Academy reestablished its Code of Conduct in 2017 during the Me Too Movement and it takes a very dim view of violence of any kind.
The Academy revealed its disapproval of ‘violence of any form’ after the incident.
After the award ceremony was over, The Academy tweeted: “The Academy does not condone violence of any form. Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.”
According to the rules of Oscar, Smith would have been removed by security guards and escorted out of the auditorium after the incident under normal circumstances, but the slap occurred moments before the award for Best Actor was to be announced.
Also, the Los Angeles police department was informed about the incident that occurred on stage but later revealed that no complaint had been filed.
Fifteen minutes after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, he received the biggest accolade of his life as an actor as he collected the Best Actor award and made a tearful speech in which he tried to connect his outburst to his character in King Richard as a man that ‘defended his family.’
Also, he took a moment to apologize to the Academy and to his fellow nominees, but the apology may not be accepted.
Twitter users immediately called for his award to be rescinded from him as similar or less violent occurrences have resulted in the rescinding of the awards from past winners.
Harvey Weinstein lost his membership in the organization after he was found guilty of decades of sexual misbehavior, which included allegations of rape.
Greg P. Russell, a sound mixer on 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, was been stripped of his Oscar nomination in 2017 after he was caught phoning his fellow members from the Academy’s Sound Branch to create awareness of his work on the film.
A statement from the Academy said the calls were a ‘direct violation of a campaign regulation that prohibits telephone lobbying.’
While talking to the New York Post, an Academy awards executive said: “It’s basically assault. Everyone was just so shocked in the room, it was so uncomfortable.”
